B-A-Light Productions

I was talking with a friend the other day (Ryan Hannaman). We were talking about the recent local happenings and what we think God is doing in the background. He shared a vision God had given him, he felt as though the Holy Spirit was sitting like an engorged water balloon over our church and the gulf coast area. It’s ready to burst and rain down His goodness. I shared with him about my story of persistence. Ryan told me that idea echoed what he felt God was saying to him. Keep pressing in, keep searching for Him, by doing that the balloon will burst.

Ryan made an analogy that I had not ever heard before. As we were talking he said that the Holy Spirit was like a radio station and we were all tuned in to the same channel. This thought has been rolling around in my head for a couple of days now. I like it, its simple and direct. I like to think that it is true. Just like if we were all listening to the same song, yet hearing different things. Someone will hear the chord progression of the lead guitar, another will hear the subtleties of the lead singers voice, someone else will  hear the complexities of the lyrics and yet another (e.g. me) will pick up the driving beat of the drums. Everyone hearing something different yet listening to the same song. Is that not the way we hear from the Holy Spirit?  All hearing different things and all the while we all hear the same beautiful song.

As I said, I have been meditating on this idea. I began to ask how can this idea help with ministry leadership. Have you asked your team what are they hearing? What differences are they hearing that you are not? The Spirit speaks to all of us and if you are a leader that is too busy to stop and ask your team what God is saying to them about the ministry, you could be missing God!

God’s Love and Peace Out!

I remember as a kid, and even after I married Eric, my family had a great Christmas Eve tradition.  We would always go over to my Grandparents house and spend time visiting with one another and laughing about this or that.  We would eat the goodies that my mom and her sisters had baked that week, and Italian sausage with pepper and onions.  Occasionally, my Grandfather would try to sing Christmas Carols in his strained voice, and of course we would humor him and join in.  Those where some good times.  So much has changed since then.  Eric and I moved away, and it got to where we did not come home for Christmas anymore and I miss that Tradition.  I have tried many times to recreate it but with little or no success.

Now, after the loss of my Daughter, my Grandfather, my Dad, and now Eric’s Dad, it has become even harder to bring back the joy and festivity of the Christmas season and our traditions.  My mom called me yesterday.  She explained that this year we would not be having the Italian Sausages like we normally do…just appetizers…a piece of me wanted to say “What?  But it’s Tradition!!”

God spoke to me about that this morning…”When life changes, you have to change with it.”  The fact of the matter is, if we had the same old tradition this year, it would’ve reminded us of old times and probably would have brought on more sadness than we already feel this time of year.  I feel if you move on and do something different it helps.  And with that thought, I have decided to make new traditions this year.  We will go to my Mom’s on Christmas Eve, but that will not be the center of our evening.  Eric and I will be going to a candle light service at our church that night.  We are also going to carry on a tradition we began last year.  We are going to put the Birth of Christ first on Christmas Day and attend a midnight mass.  Even though we are not Catholic…we both enjoyed that last year. 

So the thought of the day, is when circumstances change and things just aren’t the same, try something new.  Break old traditions and start new ones.  Yeah it may be difficult, but sometimes the difficult thing brings about the joy, hope and healing that we are sometimes missing.

Click here for more details and to sign up now!!

Performance skills – 101 Sharpening your skills to use in every aspect of your program.

One of my greatest frustrations is that only in the church world do people think that performing, preaching and mc’ing are a natural gift. This belief means that (1) those who believe that they don’t have this gift are excused from any of the aforementioned tasks and (2) those with the gifts just have to keep performing and they will get better and better.
This concept is absolutely ludicrous. It is the same as a man saying “I have always naturally been good with my hands, I am going to start practicing operating on people and I am sure I will get better”. Even in the world of fictional TV shows this would be too far of a stretch. Doogie Howser MD was a wizz kid and a doctor by 16 but he still did all of the study and training…

A football team doesn’t just play games to get better but they run
specific drills to improve specific skills that will help them with the game. This is what I believe we need to start doing.
In this episode we are going to look at one skill that is crucial in on-stage speaking. In fact if I could only tell you one thing that most help you it would be this:

Truth by Vibration!

The year was 2002 and I was in a theatre class. I was performing a piece from the “Dead Poets Society” with a girl in my class, and I had to confess my love for her. We got to the most crucial part where I said with all my acting skill – “I love you”

“CUT”

The teacher stopped me and told me he didn’t believe me and to try again.
“I love you”

“CUT”

The teacher tried to help. He told me to just say the line. I said with no effort “I love you” and he said “PERFECT – that is it” and told me to do it in the scene. I got to the part again, I said my perfect line and he said “CUT”

Over the next 30 mins it was really painful. He got me to stop and start 20 times speaking the line and getting it perfect, then performing it and failing. After the 30 mins I still didn’t get it. I had no idea what he was saying because to me they sounded exactly the same. It wasn’t until a few months later I found out a secret that has changed the way I have performed ever since.

I went to a voice training class and the speech specialist said during a routine exercise “Truth is communicated on Vibration”.

Every time you speak, sing or make a noise a vibration is made in your body. We generally talk with a bit of chest vibration and a bit of throat vibration but when we get on stage for some strange reason most people’s voice gets a little bit higher and it goes straight to the throat. This is the easiest way to tell the difference from a preacher that has been preaching for years and a rookie. The rookie’s voice is always a little bit higher than they normally speak.

When I perform my voice goes high, goes low, goes all over the place for the enjoyment of the crowd, but whenever I want to communicate a message I make sure my chest vibrates.

Professional performers are trained to speak on vibration (that meaning in the chest) because it sounds more confident, it is more relaxing, and you can speak for as long as you want and your throat will not tire. The other main reason is that if you don’t speak on vibration people will not believe you.
So give it some practice. It is a learnt skill that takes time. It is not speaking in a deep voice but it has certain feel that has to be learnt. The best way is to practice your message with your hand on your chest and focus on getting the vibrations lower.

If you look at all the great preachers, performers and mc’s, you will notice that they speak very similarly to when they are off-stage. They may not realise they are speaking on vibration but have just developed that over the years. If you adopt this specific training you will find that you advance a lot quicker than those who have gone before you.

Have Fun

Dan.

I have the distinct privilege of reviewing the newest release from Yancy “Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas.” Two words “ROCK ‘N ROLL” (“n” does not count as a word!)

Click on the picture to order now!

The album is a mixture of classic Christmas carols and all time favorites (like “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney!) Totaling ten tracks, one being a medley of 4 songs and 3 originals, 2 penned by Yancy herself, this album speaks Christmas time. The fun, traditions, and reason for the season we all love is expressed in the upbeat arrangements Yancy has put together. My wife (who it seems has taken over my blog) likes the arrangement and performance of “Wonderful Christmastime” from Yance over the original (scandalest, I know!) If you have children who like Christmas, and what kid doesn’t, get this album. I guarantee it will become a Christmas favorite. Don’t just take my word for it, hear what kids are saying about it.

Pierson age 5 “I think that she is the best singer”

Peyton age 10 “I think that she has a great voice” ” I really enjoyed Wonderful Christmastime”

Teresa teacher/mom “We really liked them!”

So act now and get “Have a Fancy Yancy Christmas” today. I’m sure will become an instant classic in your home, car or wherever.

God’s Love and Peace Out!